Training systems for the sport of organized rowing have been the subject of investigation since the 19th Century. Using light, elongate boats or "shells", designed for carrying a single, a pair, four, or eight oarsmen, two basic oar configurations are employed. In one asymetric configuration referred to as "sweeping", each oarsman mans a single oar dedicated to one side, port or starboard of the boat. In another configuration, referred to as "sculling" each oarsman mans two oars which are symmetrically paired and extend from each side of the boat. The sport imposes not only significant physical demands upon the oarsman-athlete, but also requires important and somewhat subtle technique. Because of this latter factor, a physically strongest oarsman may not be a coach's best selection as a crewman for a boat.
Rowing technique involves many aspects. The oar must properly "catch" or enter the water, following which a "rotation" about the oarlock pin with applied force occurs. During this boat accelerating maneuver, the "elevation" of the oar, i.e. the angle between the boat plane and the oar axis is critical. Finally, the "roll-up" or angle of rotation of the shaft of the oar at the oarlock is important. Without proper roll-up, timing and angulation, a proper catch maneuver becomes more difficult. The seats within the boat hulls within which oarsmen sit are mounted such that they slide along the longitudinal axis of the hull. Thus, in the course of executing a stroke, the oarsman slides forward on the seat towards a footrest or "foot stretcher" bending the knees to achieve a posture for developing a maximized force while drawing an oar through a sweep angle. As the latter stroke ensues, the position of the seat and thus the oarsman is important to maximizing generated thrust. Where the seat is moved during the stroke too rapidly, the orientation of the oarsman's torso will become inefficient for force development.
While carrying out this stroking maneuver, the oarsman must maintain the "set" of the boat such that its transverse plane or boat plane is parallel to the water's surface. Rolling the hull of the boat to a starboard or port side in the course of extending an oar to a catch position is commonly encountered with novice oarsmen. For example, to achieve a proper catch it is necessary that the oarsmen reach essentially beyond the gunwales of the boat with the oar handle. The resultant anatomical position is one which, without appropriate training, is one which will tend to induce a roll about the boat's longitudinal or roll axis. Where the set of the boat is incorrect, the oarsman catching at the downward side of the boat will tend to position his oar blade too deeply, while the oarsman on the opposite side of the boat will position the oar blade too shallow or "washout". Failure to carry out proper technique results in a variety of consequences ranging from loss of speed to such a condition as is typically referred to as "catching a crab". In the latter regard, where the blade setting at the catch is improper, the blade "goes deep" and all control is lost as the inertia of the boat itself drives the oar. The high level dynamic forces associated with this condition have been observed to launch an oarsman from a boat even though his feet were tightly held in foot stretchers.
Proper technique becomes critical in the manning, for example, of a boat requiring eight oarsmen. These "eights" are mainline boats in organized racing, being the fastest of those used. Typically, racing courses are arranged along lanes defined by marker buoys, the boats being rowed centrally within each of these lanes. Where the crews are not fully trained or, in effect, unmatched, a variety of conditions may ensue during a race which generates conditions, the end of which is loss of speed. For example, should more force be developed by the oarsmen on one side of the boat than the other in a race of sweep configured boats, then the boats will tend to turn and move from proper position within a given lane. Thus, it is important that the training technique develop a coordination amoung the rowers of a given boat, a situation again representing "technique".
Often team training, intended for manning of an eight is developed in by training in "pair" boats. Such two-man craft are more dynamically sensitive, requiring closer coordination and interaction between the two oarsmen manning them. Accordingly, oarsmen may be paired in these smaller craft and four, pair trained crews then are combined to man an eight. Generally, the coordination and interaction or technique of a well-trained eight crew is such that any one oarsman is attuned to the other seven oarsmen in the boat.
Oarsmen-athlete training devices heretofore developed, while in some cases being quite elaborate, have exhibited relatively minor capability for training the technique rowing, and in many instances have no value in the training of technique. Some of the devices are structured as physical exercise machines intended to improve only the factor of physical strength. Popular among these implements are those fashioned as ergometers wherein the strength of the oarsman can be quantified. However, the mere quantification of athletic strength is found not be a sufficiently valid measure, for example, for a coach to achieve an optimized crew selection for an "eight". Generally, the hydrodynamics of boat propulsion involve the inertia of the boat and the viscous drag of the water surrounding it. Typical simulators have employed flywheels driven by the oars of the simulator to emulate the inertial or mass term, while a variety of approaches have been advanced to emulate the viscous drag term. The latter approaches have ranged from basic coulombic braking to the magnetic generation of electrical eddy currents within flywheels otherwise deriving the mass term. More elaborate training installations have been developed to improve the emulation of the "feel" of rowing by resort to elongate troughs through which a large quantity of water is pumped. Crews sit adjacent such troughs upon stationary supports and trolly mounted seats with oars extending from oar locks into the water filled troughs. While coaches are permitted close observation of the oarsman-athlete with such facilities, a refined training in technique is not achieved, inasmuch as there can be no awareness or dynamic communication between athletes through the medium of the boat structure. Additionally, the flotational dynamics of a boat are not emulated.
For both the purpose of aiding the athlete in perfecting each of the various techniques required of the sport, as well as for aiding coaches and their staffs in developing optimized team selection procedures, a procedure and apparatus implementing a quantification of the aspects of technique will represent an important contribution to the sport of competitive rowing.